Heart of the Empire
by Tavin Wilhelm
Summary: As the Galactic Civil War begins to reach it's peak, a certain General will change the face of the war. Who will sparks these changes? A mysterious Bothan along the way. AU.
1. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

A wind raced across the large courtyard, illuminated by several spotlights facing down upon it. Against the wall of the quarry was a ragged group of four men, their faces to the unforgiving rock and their hands placed upon their heads. All were different sizes and colors but they all shared one thing in common:

On each of their shoulders they bore a tattoo, crimson in color with azure stars around it. The Rebellion's insignia stood out vividly in the prison courtyard, a stark contrast to the Imperial Banners that now faced down upon them. But in all, each man was a traitor to the Galactic Empire and now were subject to execution for their crimes,

By firing Squad.

Overlooking the dark pit was Detention Block 4A and Landing Pad 1B, while stretching in between the two, connecting them, was a windowed walkway. From behind tinted glass two figures watched the process unfolding below them. They were complete physical opposites; one was a technological wonder. Cased in obsidian armor and nearly seven feet tall was indeed Lord Vader. Dark, ruthless and intimidating, the Sith Lord inflicted fear and domination wherever he strode, keeping the galaxy in line with his iron fist while his master puppeteered him from a ebony throne.

Next to him, however, was a thin woman. In the middle of five feet, she wore a high colored tan tunic while the rest of her was covered in black. She looked to be a normal junior officer in the Imperial Army... however the decorations on her chest as well as the air surrounding her suggested otherwise.

The only sound that permitted between the two was thier breathing; one was highly mechanized while the other living and subtle.

"What are these men's charges, General?" the Dark Lord suddenly inquired, his sonorous voice shaking the walkway.

"Too many to name, but they all end with Grand Treason." the officer spoke quickly, her lips pursed. Vader glanced to his subordinate. Normally such a curt answer would result in a swift punishment by any other officer, however the Sith Lord allowed this woman to speak freely like such. Her past and service had served the Empire well and she had certainly earned her place in line.

Vader returned his vision back to the courtyard spanned below them, just in time to see a line of white armor clad men marching out to the quarry, a junior officer behind them. They all hugged E-11 blaster rifles to their chest and not one fell out of unison. They stopped abruptly and turned on point to face the line of traitors.

The junior officer that followed them strode to the middle of the line, behind the soldiers, holding a clutch of papers in his hand. He stopped and raised a comlink to his mouth, beginning to speak into it. The General beside Vader quickly reached down and pressed a button on the control array below them. Instantly the noises from the courtyard below filtered into the walkway as several hidden speakers crackled to life.

"..-fore us have committed heinous crimes against the Galatic Empire! The crimes listed include, but are not limited to Murder, Arson, Larceny and finally Grand Treason!" the man paused to shift his papers. "The punishment for said listed crimes is immediate execution by firing squad!"

The officer folded his papers over and looked up.

"Firing Squad, ready!"

On cue the Stormtroopers raised their black weapons.

"Aim!"

They brought their weapons up and leveled them out.

"Fire!"

"FOR THE REBELL-" one of the men began to scream but his voice was quickly cut out as a score of red bolts engulfed the group, their limp bodies falling to the ground defeated.

The General brought a silver comlink to her thin lips, "Clean crew, this is Warbird. You are clear to retrieve the trash."

The white troopers marched off while a handful of men in grey jumpsuits bustled forward, beginning to clean the quarry. No longer interested in the courtyard below, the woman turned to face Vader.

"The council will gather in a weeks time, General." Vader spoke, turning to face the officer himself. He reached under his vast cape and procured a small datadisk from his belt. "Inside you will find the rough meeting agenda and security details listed for the meeting.. I expect a report of your armies and sectors to be added to the other's."

The General took the datadisk carefully and nodded briskly, "It will be done."

Vader nodded and raised a pointed finger at the woman. "I will see you soon then, Coria."

On this the Dark Lord swept around and walked off towards his awaiting ship.


	2. Arrival

****_Author's Note: Thought the plotline and everything over, and this one makes the most sense. Third and final change everyone, sorry for the constant turmoil_

**_Chapter One_**

* * *

><p>A shadow silently crossed the quiet hallway, sliding carefully up to the apartment's entrance, not making a sound at all as they reached for a small keypad on the inside of the doorway. Several button's were clicked before a hissing procured from the door itself and it slid open, unknowingly welcoming the enemy. No guards, human or droid, stood guard within this bunker's entrance as the sole resident was more than capable of defending himself. The shadow however believed they could catch this officer off-guard and stealing vital information from his console, giving the Rebellion an edge on the Empire. Little did they know, they were very wrong.<p>

The figure silently eased into to the main floor and drifted into the anteroom. It was silent, albeit the soft noise from the air conditioner running overhead. Imperial banners fluttered along the walls and fine leather couches dotted the walls. Mesh screens formed makeshift walls and gave the bunker nice detail, not to mention the looming wanted posters that hung on the opposite wall.

The shadow ignored them and moved to the right, stopping outside another door. On the door was a large plague that read "Systems Army Alpha". The figure opened the door and slipped inside the office.

A soft red light came on, illuminating the room slightly. The light frightened the spy slightly, but they ignored it and moved further in towards the desk, pausing only to glance at one section of the wall.

A gleaming armoire faced them, a tan uniform hanging on the outside of it. Several rows of ribbons and medals decorated one side of the tan coat while shining ranks glinted from the collar and just above the left breast pocket. Around the neck was a purple cord with a prestigious silver medal on the end. The spy didn't have to make a comment, they knew their target well enough. One of the most decorated individuals in the Imperial Army and for a very good reason at that. Some considered this assignment to be suicide, but the spy certainly persisted.

The figure slipped over to the desk, eyes glancing over several dossiers that were strewn about the desk. They weren't vital however and the spy instead pulled open the main desk drawer, sifting through it quickly. Datadisks slid through the spy's fingers until they located a large rectangular one that was tan in color. Several lines of codes lined the outside, the worlds GALACTIC EMPIRE emblazoned boldly on the thin cover.

"There you are..." the spy whispered, seizing a hold of it graciously.

"Found what you're looking for?" a voice suddenly called out.

The spy froze.. they knew the voice.

General Coria Nartano stood at the entrance to the room in thigh length shorts and an ubese under armor shirt. The exoskeletal top was made of toughened fibers and would allow the officer to take most side arm blasts and still move. Calmness and power emitted from her and her composure was held quietly but the spy could sense the Officer was on the balls of her feet, ready to strike; but on the other hand her persona intrigued the spy. Practically the only known high ranking woman Officer in the Imperial Army, it was odd to see a lady like her in the position she was, considering all the laws within the Empire. But aside from the point the spy suddenly realized one thing:

She held a side arm herself.

Coria glanced over the spy, surprised to find a male Bothan in her office. He wore a skin tight black suit that cloaked his form but probably provided no protection whatsoever. The alien was short, but very stout. His brown fur rippled with movement and his purple eye's scanned Coria up and down. She sighed, not the first to try and infiltrate her living quarters.. but he had certainly made it further than his predecessor 's. But in addition he was younger than them all.. he looked to be only in his early twenties, maybe late. She glared upon the rebel with extreme disdain, her lip curling into a small sneer.

In her hand was a long black blaster pistol with the chamber and cartridge already loaded. In such a small range, if it were to be fired, Coria could not miss.

Showing some bravery, the spy leveled his small blaster pistol at the General. Coria could tell the man was trained, extensivley.

"I have.." he said slowly, moving out from behind the desk but keeping his gun aimed at the Imperial's chest

The General chuckled quietly. "And I will bet you intend to leave with it, correct?" she asked instead, keeping a cool demeanor.

"I do" he stated.

"I will admit your brave and bold for attempting this but I am going to demand you return that disk to my possession." Coria whispered, her voice becoming icy. She raised his blaster pistol at the Spy, leveling it straight at his heart.

The Bothan surprised the General with a small smirk, yet inside he cringed at this, his only way out now was through.

He twitched, flexing his back unconciously, not intending to invoke the woman's fire, but it did little as the General's blaster cracked before he could even blink. His world suddenly inverted, the ground rushed up to meet him painfully. The datadisk and his rusty weapon skidded out of reach. The Bothan cracked his eyes to look down, finding a smoking wound in his shoulder, not his heart.

Had she missed her intended target?

Coria's feet entered his vision, her own blaster still pointed firmly at him. She tsk'ed softly. "Foolish." she whispered before grabbing his collar, hauling him upright with surprisng strength. In the opposite room he could hear several feet trampling and suddenly, the door opened. Three black, armored soldiers entered, glossy carbines raised carefully at the scene, their arms bearing a single purple stripe.

"General!" one of them exclaimed, lowering his weapon. "Are you alright?" he asked, his mechanized voice sounding tinny in the room. Coria nodded, but glanced at the soldier, eyebrow raised in questioning. "Why did you lower your weapon? I could have been a changeling and this could have been me, dead." she asked, pointing down at the defeated Rebel. She turned his sidearm on the soldier and pointed it at his heart, "Never assume, Sergeant."

The guard stuttered for a response; they might have been the best in combat but as logic perceived they were still stormtroopers under their helmets. Coria waved her hand and hauled the spy further up, "Hold him and contac-.."

Coria trailed off however as she spotted something faintly poking up from the edge of the spy's collar. The thin material had become loose under her handling and now part of the spy's neck was revealed, but from Coria's angle she could see his shoulder blades as well. She snatched a vibroblade from the soldier's vest and slung it down, slicing open the back of the skin suit. She yanked the two ends apart and revealed the spy's back, her eyes glinting darkly at what she saw.

Crimson in color, the Alliance's symbol was rather obvious on the spy's back, but the black thunderbolt that ran through it was vague, but unmistakable to those who knew its meaning. This Bothan was no ordinary alien, he was a member of COLDAR: a vein of Alliance Special Operations.

"What does it mean, sir?" the soldier asked Coria carefully.

The woman snorted, "It means he won't be going to regular incarceration.." she said, trailing off quietly.

"Where to then, General?" the trooper inquired.

Coria's face hardened and her mouth slid into a grim, thin line.

"The Heart of the Empire; The top level of Coruscant."

* * *

><p><em>15 hours later; Imperial Forward Base Bravo - 2507 Meter's away from Imperial Army Headquarters, Coruscant.<em>

Coria glanced back through the grates of the skiff transport, spotting the Rebel spy still leaning against the barren wall of the skiff. Shackles and laser bonds bound his wrists, ankles and forearm's holding him together and preventing him moving in the slightest bit. The only movement he made was occasionally flexing his shoulder blades back.

The sounds of the city dimly reached her ears inside the muffled cabin, their skiff racing easily through the crowded skies. Lanes parted as the travelers saw the imposing vehicle incoming from behind, lights flared. Ahead two bikers led the way, their heads bent low in an attempt to defeat the surging wind. Coria sighed and sat back.

She shook his head slightly and turned her gaze back to the bunched up skin suit in her hands. She rolled it over in her hands quietly, pulling the collar back to inspect the inside of it.

She was surprised to find four letters stitched inside. They were in ebony thread so one had to look closely to properly read them, but the world itself was very plain:

Grey.

Grey? The General though to herself, puzzled for the moment. She glanced back at her prisoner, wondering if the word had any correlation with him.

"We're approaching our destination, General." a crackling voice whined in Coria's ear, making her reel back a bit with a cringe. "Despicable comlinks.." she muttered under his breath. "Very well, notify the gate warden of our arrival." she said louder, to where the Stormtrooper escort's ahead of them could hear. One of them raised a white fist in acknowledgement and the pair sped up towards the prison.

The penal facility's looming form penetrated the mist and imposed fear on those who fell in it's shadow. Only those who a cold core could walk briskly under its shade. Coria happened to be one of those individuals. This was certainly not her first visit to the Prison, many of her personal enemies now called this place home, while some claimed it as a grave.

The convoy hummed through the gate briskly, Coria raising a soft salute to the gate warden who peered down upon them from the arch overhead. The air grew notably colder and she could feel the chill of the prison tugging at her. She was more used to it however and only shrugged it off, instead glancing back into the cage again.

She then slid a stony mask over her face and returned his attention forward.

The sleek transport slid into the processing dock, a cadre of armor clad soldiers and uniformed workers bustling forward at their arrival. A man in a black uniform appeared at the head of the vehicle and circled around towards Coria's side.

"General!" he called out. "Back so soon?"

Coria favored the man with a quick, but rather unneeded, smile, her white teeth flashing in the sunlight. "Unfortunately." she replied. "I cannot seem to escape the talons of this place."

The man before her was Colonel Wilkes Oslo, head of the Stormtrooper detachment that guarded the prison and the surrounding region. The two were former colleagues but had been separated once Coria had been promoted, much to the disdain of the Colonel. But of course he was now displaying a fake persona for the others to see.

Oslo grinned wolfishly, "Few ever do." he said, Coria catching his implied meaning. "So whom do we have aboard?" Oslo asked, diverting the subject as Coria slipped out of the transport. The pair sauntered to the back as a handful of soldiers pulled the girl out.

"Another failed assassin." Coria said with a touch of faux disappointment. "Killing you wasn't my objective." the Bothan said suddenly, a firm statement; his first set of words. Coria glanced down at him and knelt down, bringing her face an inch away from his. Behind her Oslo spoke: "I'm surprised the damn animal can talk.."

The Bothan looked at her with violet eyes, iron walls that displayed nothing.

"Whatever your objective was, you failed." she whispered, leveling every bit of quiet malevolence into his statement, hoping to unnerve the alien.

"Take him." she whispered, her eyes never leaving his.

Coria watched as the Bothan disappeared into the detention block, undoubtedly going off to one of the interrogation cells. Oslo raised a lip in disgust , "Shall we follow, ma'am?" he asked. The woman spat into the wind, ridding herself of the Alliance filth. She nodded. The pair briskly walked inside, following the prison group quietly.

"Where will he go first?" Coria asked quietly.

"Probably a low to medium level court where she will be sentenced and after probably interrogation." Oslo said. Coria nodded, forgetting the alien still needed to be documented and lawfully sentenced. As for the low to medium court setting.. she doubted so.

A four sided pillar of glass and steel with officials inside greeted them as Coria stepped to the head of the group to coordinate the hearing. "General Nartano!" one of the men in the processing tower proclaimed, typing in her information into a computer quickly. He paused momentarily and offered a perfect salute. The others around him followed suit, snapping to attention crisply. "Crime?" he asked.

"Treason and Attempted Assassination." Coria answered quickly, adding a few other minor charges as well. The man's eyes widened slightly but he nodded, quickly typing a chain of letters into the computer. "Bring them forth." the analyst said, sliding a holopad over the counter for the handprint and blood sample.

Coria grabbed the Rebel's bonds and pulled him forward. She undid his hands and snatched one, pulling it towards the block.

He, surprisingly, didn't resist, although she could feel him hesitate and want to pull back, yet he resisted the urge. He twitched against the small prick a bit, but her iron grip didn't falter. "Hold still." she whispered, only audible between the two. The pad blinked and took the information, a small needle pricking his finger and taking several drops of blood.

She released her hand and bound them back together, pushing him back into the hold of the Stormtroopers.

There was a delay as the analyst punched several more keys in. The analyst frowned for a moment, furiously dashing several more keys in. With a confused look he shrugged, before he finally asked: "Which court were you requesting?"

"21B, Transit High Court." Coria said coldly.

The analyst didn't argue and nodded quickly, passing over a set of holocards and keys to Coria with a small datapad loaded with documents. "All set then." he said with a small salute.

The General nodded and jerked her head towards the nearby hall, motioning for them to follow. Oslo bustled to the front.

"High Court?" he asked in a low tone.

"He's part of COLDAR." Coria said, ending the conversation.

The unforgiving steel doors of the Courtroom greeted them, the Imperial insignia emblazoned on each door. Coria opened the door's and strode in.

At the head of the room was a large throne like judge's seat and desk. Behind the desk was a frail looking man with rectangular glasses perched on his crooked nose. He wore a crisp light grey Imperial Uniform and General ranks glistened from his breast pocket. He glanced up at Coria's entrance. "General." he said curtly, but not rudely. "I was just about to summon you." he glanced down at a dossier in his hands. "Surprising you chose this courtroom."

The woman offered a bland smile before waving her hand toward the entering Rebel.

"Another Rebel I presume?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Grand Treason, Attempted Murd-

"Assassination."

"Right, Assassination, Destruction of Property... quite well enough for me." The Judge stamped the documents loudly and tossed them to the side. "Sentenced to Execution by Firing Squad after seven hour's of required questioning."

Coria smirked, Transit High Court was the single most effective Court in the whole facility. Run smoothly by General Auburn, a former mentor of sorts to her, all orders and sentencing were based primarily off Auburn's judgment. He had flawless control over this system and processed high value cases quickly but effectively. Not one of his cases had been passed without having seven hours of interrogation added to the order, the maximum allowed by legal Imperial Standard.

Coria saluted Auburn and nodded softly to her. Auburn favored her with a weathered smile before returning to a datapad he was reading. With this, she exited the Courtroom to find the group of soldiers and their prisoner preparing to head for the holding blocks. Coria glanced down at the Bothna, who stared at her intensely. They locked eyes for a moment for he was turned and led away.

The exit whispered to Coria as she rounded the corner. The prison skiff was gone on the other side of the doors, her own sleek, black XJ-2 Airspeeder awaiting her instead. Made with a lighter, but sturdier, frame, upgraded engine and full sirens, the vehicle was a more than adequate way through the Coruscanti skyline.

A stormtrooper offered a small salute at the General before opening the door to her vehicle. Coria nodded and tapped several keys on the display, the engine quietly hissing to life. Several news updates flashed across the top of the screen, a red banner marking their arrival. More notifications attempted to budge their way on scene, but the General swiped most of them away, tapping the local bolo-ball scores.

The wheel sprung to life, veering to the left as the automated systems inside took Coria through the skies, leaving her to glance through her datapad freely. Occasionally she would look up through the windshield, but was rather occupied with her Limme details. She sighed at the unpopularity of the sport within Coruscant.

The comm in her ear whined annoyingly, crackling at first then branching into a series of different sounds. Coria huffed, quickly digging the dingy equipment out of her left ear, rubbing it in turn repeatedly in an attempt to relieve the ringing sound.

"Damn thing." she said, glancing with disdain at it. The woman tossed her datapad in the passenger seat, except gentler, and slid her fingers around the "W" shaped yoke. Although the speeder was more than well equipped to carry her from point to point without her ever steering it, she certainly enjoyed the feeling of controlling the fast vehicle as it blazed through the skies at dangerous speeds.

A smile crept up on her face.

But it quickly disappeared.

A black notification slid onto the screen, a local update that a prisoner had escaped from the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center, the very same prison that she had just left. Before the General could open the notification, a sight behind him caught his attention.

Billowing black smoke out it's engines, but still blaring its loud sirens, a Buirk'alor-class airspeeder sped at a ferocious rate towards her own vehicle. Although it was merely a hunch, Coria highly doubted a soldier or officer piloted that vehicle, and yet she had an odd feeling about who was.

Coria quickly exited automated piloting and grabbed the yoke firmly, diving flat towards the far, distant ground. The wind hissed outside, her eyes darting back and forth between behind and ahead of her. Several more updates blinked on screen; she caught one: several scouts and stormtroopers were closing in on her location. Apparently they were aware she was being pursued.

The General flicked her sirens on, groaning as gravity took its affect and a steady pressure was added against her entire body as she flew down the Coruscanti skyline. Lanes and speeders parted paths, eager to escape the danger that whizzed toward, and thankfully past them.

In the near distance, to the west, lay a parking flat for the senate building. Several employee taxi's sat motionless in a group on one end of the flat, yet the rest was practically empty. Coria frowned and angled her speeder for the empty slab, her hands ready to perform a risky maneuver.

The instant she passed over the parking flat's guide walls, the General slammed the reserve buttons on the repulsors, ramming her yoke to the left and watching as the airspeeder spun completely around. Gliding now on mere momentum alone, Coria grabbed the thin pistol in the passenger seat and extended her arm out of the window, quickly taking aim before firing several shots at the center of the pursuing airspeeder.

The already smoking vehicle spurted flames as the angry bolts struck it's hood and body, the hissing engine perhaps moments from exploding.

Coria jerked forward suddenly, gritting her teeth as the vehicle slammed into the ground, sparks and the sound of grating steel filling the air instantly. The police speeder glided over her shakily, a mere inches from her own roof, before slamming into the ground itself.

The General hurriedly squeezed herself out of the dented door, listening painfully as her airspeeder made several whining and groaning sounds.

Pistol raised, Coria slid over to the smoking wreckage of the police speeder, waiting carefully for any signs of life. As expected, the burnt and singed door of the vehicle snapped open, actually flying off its hinges and clanging noisily on the ground. Out from the pile stumbled a person that confirmed Coria's suspicions.

A smile crept on her face.

"How did you do it?" she asked quietly, keeping her weapon aimed.

Now blackened from soot and fire, the Bothan stared at her with certain interest. The two were only about a few feet apart. Before Coria could blink, ask another question or even fire, the Bothan was upon her.

His left hand shot out, grabbing the top of her pistol while his right darted forward, striking her harshly in the abdomen. Coria wheezed as the breath was knocked from her lungs, in addition to being disarmed. Weakly, she swung at him with a left hook, attempting to do some damage.

He batted aside her hand, instead sweeping under and completly flipping her over. She slammed into the hard ground, red dots exploding across her vision. The Imperial stumbled to her feet, raising her fists in a small attempt to to defend herself. Despite her own training, the Bothan was extremly fast and ridiciously strong for his size.

In a blur, the Rebel was behind her, his iron arm wrapping around her throat, pulling the larynx into the crook of his elbow. With little effort, he tipped her off balance and completled the chokehold, now holding complete control over the General.

"When I release you, I am going to climb in your speeder. When the authorities come, you will tell them I died in the wreck and you are retiring to your apartment. We will then go to said apartment, and I will take the very same datadisk from before." he commanded, a whisper in her ear.

Coria feebly attempted to sling an elbow backwards at his chest, but only met hard muscle. Blackness fringed her vision.

He released the pressure on her throat, allowing her room to breath slightly. She gasped, and paused, then procceded to ask, "Why?"

"If you will trust me, I have the power to end this war." he said.

Was she not being strangled, Coria would have blatantly laughed in the Bothan's face. Surely he was joking, for he was certainly not the first person to say such, although normally their positions were reversed. "For the Rebel's" she said through gritted teeth, "To hell with that."

"No." he cut over, "The Rebellion cannot win, they can but it must not be allowed... No the Empire is to win this war, yet it is going to cost your government. The things that must be set in motion during this war will lead to peace afterwards. I cannot explain to you how I know, nor what will be done. Yet, I need your cooperation, General.. We are not that much different."

His words stunned her.

"Who are you to speak such, seer?" she inquired, loosening her neck a bit more.

"I am many things, I have no name you can call me, yet I can tell you I am what your generation call's a traitor." he said, a hint of sadness coloring his voice.

Coria could, of course, only think of one such thing.

"Your a Jedi." she stated softly, oddly feeling a sense of belief in the comment.

She felt him nod.

"I have worked for the Rebellion blindy, believing they were the greater good. Yet they are reckless. Fools merely gambling on luck and speed alone. I cannot call myself a member of their alliance no more, for some of their soldiers live along guidelines worse than the "tyranny" the fight they fight themselves." he spoke.

"So you are asking to defect to the Empire?" she asked.

"Nor shall I work for the Empire." he replied. "Yet instead, for this universe, per say."

"And why should I release you?" she posed, "I could recieve many fine rewards and luxeries for capturing a Jedi."

Suddenly, he released her. She turned and looked him in the eyes.

"If you let me go here, the Rebel's will attempt to capture me, and likely succeed. I will then have no choice but to fight their crusade, and we will likely cross paths again. On the other hand, should you hand me over to your colleauges and subordinates, I will only be spirited away to your superiors when they discover my abilities. I would then likely be forged into a Sith as they willed, for I know I cannot overcome thier might, and then only inspire fear on Imperial worlds. Should this happen, I am certain the Galaxy will crumble from within and the people will continue to eternally revolt against the Empire, so long as the Sith rule."

His speech shocked and silenced Coria. He was right from every angle. She could think of no other solution but to either kill him, or harbor him. Seeing as he had easily disarmed and defeated her once, the first option was slim to none. Yet to harbor him... she was taking a risk at everything. For a mysterious forseer that claimed such knowledge and power.

Coria cringed, and finally agreed to his plan.

In all fourty years of her Imperial service, she had never considered such an ideal. Born on Coruscant, raised in an Imperial family, sent to an Imperial academy and immediatly joining the Imperial Army... such ordeals were taught to be unlawful and horrid. Such prejudice was merely so in the hierarchy of the government, albiet the Chiss race, perhaps.

"Go." she whispered, feeling the heat of the wreckage on the back of her neck. In the distance, she heard police sirens approaching.

"I'll explain more later." he assured her, ducking into the vehicle and out of sight.

In moments, airspeeders swarmed the scene. Rescue Operators quickly moved on the blazing wreckage, attempting to douse the withering inferno. Several stormtroopers surrounded her vehicle in a ring, while a junior officer trotted up to the General.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" he yelled over the sound of the fire being put out.

Coria nodded, running a hand through her hair, strands of it having come undone in the previous struggle.

"I believe the Bothan died in the wreckage." she spoke, keeping her eyes averted from her own vehicle.

"Would you like us to comm for another vehicle to be brought, so we can repair your own?" he asked.

She instantly shook her head, "No, it's fine. I'll fix it in the morning.. I wish to retire now."

The Lieutenant said nothing against it, only offering a clear salute to her. She returned it quietly and climbed in her vehicle, relieved to hear it start up.

The Bothan stared at her from the back seat, nodding silently to the General. He still held her pistol, althought loftily to the side. He seemed at ease.

With a shaky sigh, she angled the airspeeder for her apartment, knowing a world of risk, uncertainty and turmolt awaited her.


End file.
